As we keep an eye on a number of different pen related online forums to try and look for subjects to cover that our readers may be interested in, we like to publish some articles that do not fit our regular mold. With spring just around the corner, we have noticed more and more people reaching out on a number of different platforms to ask for advice on the best pencil for plant labels. In addition to this, we have also noticed people specifically asking for advice on the best market and the best white pen for garden labels too.
Due to people living in different areas of the world with different temperatures, there are a mix of needs for writing utensils for plant labels. Most people will probably be putting their seedlings into a greenhouse to help support the first few months of their new plants but some people will be in a location that is warm enough to place their seedlings directly into their garden. As we would prefer to offer a one stop solution for all of our readers, we have decided to only cover pencils, pens, and markers that are both waterproof and weatherproof in our article.
This should ensure that all of our readers who are looking for a pencil or pen that can write on their plant labels can go with the same item without running into any issues further down the line. Even if you are putting your seedlings into a greenhouse for the warmer temperature, you may still need a pencil or marker that can work well outside after moving your plants into your garden.
Although we will have a full break down of each of our recommendations later in the article, we just want to quickly link out to our three recommended products for any of our readers that are short on time. They cover the three main questions that we have seen people asking out about and cover a pencil and a marker for normal plant labels as well as a white marker for black plant labels too.
- The Best Pencil For Plant Labels - Any 2B Pencil
- The Best Garden Marker Pen For Plant Labels - Staedtler Garden Marker
- The Best White Marker Pen For Black Plant Labels - Sharpie Oilased Paint Marker
The Best Pencil For Plant Labels
When it comes to using a pencil to write on your plant labels, you should be fine to use any pencil that has a 2b graphite scale rating. This ensures that the graphite is soft and easy to write with on the plant label but also has good fade resistance. Although there are a number of brands of 2b pencil, we feel that the Tombow 2b Graphite Writing Pencil is one of the better options as it is cheap and performs well.
The Tombow pencils are break resistant and as your main focus is potting your seedlings rather than taking care of your pencil, the increased toughness helps to ensure that your pencil will be able to withstand any potential damage coming its way. The pencil also has high-quality cedar wood for its body ensuring that you get a smooth and easy sharp graphite point allowing you to write accurately to record the required information on your plant labels.
The pencils also have an enamel coating and a high grip hexagon shape. This can come in useful as your may be handling wet soild when potting your seedlings and have to grip your pencil with wet, dirty hands. This ensures that you can write accurately no matter the condition without having any issues.
Although we do have two recommended marker pens for plant labels below, we would recommend that you seriously consider going with a high-quality 2b pencil as they have one major advantage over a market. A pencil does not need you to re-apply a cap after use on a hot day to prevent it from drying out and causing issues on any longer potting sessions.
Although this may sound basic, if you do have a large garden and plan to have to write on a large number of plant labels, it really does end up saving you a ton of time. On top of this, unlike a marker pen, using a pencil to write on your plant labels has no issues with dirt on the label. Although our two recommended markers below should not have this issue, some other markers can end up having problems if dirt ends up getting on their felt nibs.
The Best Garden Marker Pen For Plant Labels
When it comes to the best garden marker pen there really is no other option than the Staedtler Garden Marker. It has been the garden marker of choice since its release due to its excellent performance with its fast-drying, long-lasting ink that works flawlessly on plant labels, plant pots, and wooden plant tags. The marker has the proven ability to be both weatherproof and waterproof making it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use too and the 1mm nib size allows you to write accurately on smaller plant labels while still being able to clearly read your writing.
This has managed to earn the Staedtler Garden Marker an excellent reputation amongst gardeners all around the world that just keeps on getting better and better due to its low price tag. The only drawback of the marker is that it is only available in black ink meaning you are not able to use it on black plant labels and plant pots but thats where our next recommendation comes in.
The Best White Marker Pen For Black Plant Labels
Although there are a white marker pen options for writing on black plant labels, we feel that the Sharpie Oilased Paint Marker is going to be the best option for the majority of people. It allows you to quickly and easily label your seedlings as required when using black plant labels and plant pots and the oil-based ink ensures that anything you write is both weatherproof and waterproof.
Although the price of the marker is a little higher than the Staedtler Garden Marker, this is common for all white markers that have weatherproof, fade-resistant ink as it costs slightly more to develop their white ink tones. Thankfully though, the price increase is minimal in the grand scheme of things and it will be cheaper to order a white marker pen for your black plant labels than to order white plant labels and pots to use a black pen or a pencil that you already own.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over what we feel are the best pens, pencils, and markers for writing on plant labels to a close. We hope that our readers have found it helpful and although both the Staedtler Garden Marker and the Sharpie Oilased Paint Marker can have their place, we do feel that the majority of our readers will be better off going with a decent 2b pencil due to the advantages that pencils have over pens and markets when writing on plant labels that we covered above.
